Dear Holy Cross College Community,
I write today to share an upcoming and important leadership transition, as well as an exciting new academic initiative.
At the conclusion of this academic year, Dr. Michael Griffin will step down as Provost, return to the faculty, and lead the exploration of launching an honors baccalaureate program here at the College.
A national search for the provost will begin soon, which is vital to continue the outstanding academic momentum happening at the College.
Dr. Griffin has served during the last decade in senior leadership, as Senior Vice President from 2017-2021 and in the provost role for the last six years. During that time, the College has grown significantly, including the size and academic excellence of its faculty and student body. Under his leadership, the College’s academic profile has been elevated and tri-campus partnerships with the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College strengthened. Dr. Griffin also developed the Pathways program to secure placements for students in top graduate schools.
His tenure has also cultivated an academic ethos and culture of student success, which has attracted a distinguished and highly motivated faculty that helped produce the College’s first Fulbright Scholar this past Spring.
Demonstrating significant dedication, resilience, and commitment to advancing Holy Cross College, Dr. Griffin also shepherded the College through the formation and execution of the College’s With Eyes of Faith Strategic Plan, 2023-2028. Additionally, for the past two years, Dr. Griffin has led the preparations for our decennial accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission in preparation for our review this December. The successful conclusion of the Strategic Plan and renewal of our accreditation for another ten years represent exemplary execution of our institutional vision and position Holy Cross College well for a thriving future.
Thank you, Dr. Griffin, for your consummate professionalism and unwavering commitment to setting a benchmark standard for the College.
Those accomplishments tell only a small part of Dr. Griffin’s story at Holy Cross.
To generations of students, parents, families, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the College, Dr. Griffin has embodied something essential about this community: the zeal, personalism, and witness that every person who enters our care deserves to be known, loved, and served.
He gives students his time. He remembers their stories. He takes a genuine interest in their lives and remains invested in them long after a meeting, a class, or a conversation.
That generosity of spirit has made Dr. Griffin a beloved figure not only at Holy Cross College, but throughout the broader tri-campus community. Alumni, family, and tri-campus colleagues know him as a transformational leader. Indeed, he has been that for the College, and for that we are grateful.
Dr. Griffin believes deeply in the distinctive calling of a Holy Cross education and its responsibility to form young people in both mind and heart, as citizens for this world and for heaven.
As Provost, he has been an invaluable member of our Executive Council, a trusted colleague, and an important voice in the life of the College. He has helped to ensure that as Holy Cross has grown and evolved, our academic life remains firmly rooted in our Catholic intellectual and social tradition, as well as the charisms of the Congregation of Holy Cross, prioritizing the education and formation of scholars, citizens, leaders, and disciples.
It is fitting, then, that the next chapter of Dr. Griffin’s service to Holy Cross will bring him back to his vocation as a teacher and to the work of designing a crucial component of our pursuit to emerge as a premier Catholic college. In the coming year, Dr. Griffin will work with faculty colleagues and other campus leaders to imagine how an honors program can further that effort and continue to elevate Holy Cross as a baccalaureate institution in the tri-campus.
We will share additional information regarding the transition in academic leadership and the process for identifying our next Provost at the appropriate time.
For now, I ask you to join me in expressing our profound gratitude to Dr. Griffin for his extraordinary leadership and for the countless ways, both visible and unseen, that he and his family have cared for this community.
Mike, I thank you for your friendship, your leadership, and your unwavering belief in the mission of Holy Cross and look forward to the impact you will make in the years to come.
Ave Crux, Spes Unica
Dr. Marco J. Clark
President
Holy Cross College at Notre Dame